Polluted valley on border of Orange and West Orange may be designated as Superfund site

Jerry McCrea/The Star LedgerA valley on the border of Orange and West Orange and the groundwater beneath it have been proposed as a federal Superfund site by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Pictured here is an unrelated site containing contaminated soil.

ORANGE — A valley on the border of Orange and West Orange and the groundwater beneath it were proposed as a Superfund site yesterday by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The Orange Valley Regional Ground Water site, which includes two public-supply wells at Orange Park and Gist Place, provides drinking water to 10,000 people, according to the EPA.

The EPA, in the course of testing, said it found PCE, TCE and other toxic chemicals present in the two wells — though the Orange Water Department constantly treats the well water before public distribution.

A third well between the two was previously closed due to contamination.

If added to the Superfund list, the area will be cleaned up in future years, officials said.

"By placing the Orange Valley Ground Water site on the Superfund list, EPA can do the extensive sampling needed to find the best ways to address the contamination and protect people’s health," said Judith Enck, EPA regional administrator.

Onlookers say the two wells in the small valley are essentially pulling in contamination from the industrial areas that once surrounded the area.

The groundwater "plume" of pollution could come from dry cleaning and metal-degreasing agents from various sites across the area, even a mile away, an EPA site profile states.

"It’s like a straw in a glass," said Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter. "We are deeply troubled that an area that is so contaminated and impacts public drinking wells has been allowed to go on for so long. This site should have been on the Superfund list long ago."

The state Department of Environmental Protection asked the EPA last year to consider the site for the Superfund list.

A 60-day comment period starts tomorrow. New Jersey has approximately 140 sites — the most of any state — according to the EPA.

Since the Superfund program was begun in the early 1980s, 1,661 sites have been listed on its National Priorities List.

Of those, 359 have been cleaned up, resulting in 1,302 sites currently on the federal list.